Obit of the Day

Obit of the Day: He Was Gumby (Dammit)

and Speedy, the Alka-Seltzer mascot, and Davey from Davey and Goliath, and Richie Rich’s annoying rival, Rollo, and the voice of dozens of other children on television and film. Dick Beals, who passed away at 87, suffered from a glandular disorder that limited his height (4’ 7”) and never allowed his voice to mature. But he parlayed that unique vocal characteristic into a six-decade career.

A graduate of Michigan State University, Beals got his start playing boys on various radio programs that were originally broadcast from Detroit including The Lone Ranger and The Green Hornet. He would end up in Hollywood and his first film was the animated cartoon, From A to Z-Z-Z-Z (see above). Although he plays the lead character, Ralph Phillips, Beals is uncredited. The cartoon would earn a 1953 Academy Award nomination. (Toot, Whistle, Plunk, and Boom from Disney won the Oscar.)

In an unusual move for the voice-over industry, Mr. Beals would always wear a suit and tie to recording sessions. Mark Evanier, who wrote the obit to which this post links, thought it was Mr. Beals’ way of reminded people that he was an adult not just a boy. (Mr. Evanier’s post has a link to an old Alka-Seltzer commercial featuring “Speedy” and…Buster Keaton. Brilliant.)

(From A to Z-Z-Z-Z is copyright of Warner Brothers and courtesy of abloink on YouTube.com. I recommend watching it. Note: There is a scene of Ralph being chased by stereotypical “Indians” that is tasteless by 21st century standards by acceptable in 1953.)

Obit of the Day: Inventor of the Wireless Remote Control

The founder of the Zenith Radio Company, Commander Eugene McDonald, Jr. recognized something very early on about the television industry - viewers hate commercials. But owners of Zenith televisions had little control over the ads that would frequently pop-up during shows. Getting up to change the channel? That involved a lot of effort. Commander McDonald wanted to see that changed.

Enter Eugene Polley. In 1955, Polley develop the first weapon in the war on commercials: the Flash-Matic Remote Control. Using photo cells embedded in the television screen (one in each corner) Polley’s hyper-accurate flashlight would be pointed at a corner to turn off the TV, to turn off the sound (especially helpful to “shut off long annoying commercials while the picture remains on the screen”), and, most importantly, to change the channel. It was the first wireless remote control and television would never be the same again.

Eugene Polley worked his way up Zenith’s corporate ladder beginning as a 20-year-old stock boy in 1935 before moving his way up into engineering. During his 47 years with Zenith Mr. Polley would also develop the push button car radio as well as the video disk, ancestor of today’s DVD and Blu-Ray discs. But it was the Flash-Matic that would earn him an Emmy from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame in 1997 - and a place in couch potato history.

Mr. Polley passed away at the age of 96.

(Image of a 1955 Zenith ad for the Flash-Matic is courtesy of vintagetvsets.com)

Almost exactly one year ago, in April 2011, Obit of the Day featured another inventor who changed the television industry - Hub Schlafly

Obit of the Day: Game Show Guru

Television’s longest running game show was a backup plan. When Bob Stewart met with Mark Goodson of Goodson-Todman productions he was there to sell a show he called Three of a Kind, which would feature three people pretending to be the same person with a panel trying to guess who was telling the truth. It received a lukewarm reception. So Stewart threw out his next idea,The Auctioneer, where contestants would try to guess the actual price of retail items. Goodson loved the idea and sent it into production. We know it The Price is Right, which ran from 1956-1965 on NBC and then moved over to CBS in 1972 with a new host named Bob Barker.

Stewart would not stop there. His panel game was later picked up and the name changed to To Tell the Truth which had a celebrity panel trying to ferret out the real person amongst the fibbers. Then in October 1961, another of Stewart’s classic creations appeared - Password - which had contestants attempt to guess the “password” with one-word clues. It was also the first game show to pair up celebrities with regular contestants.

In 1964, Stewart opened his own production company. Few of the show he developed for television remain memorable today, except for one. The $10,000 Pyramid was hosted by Dick Clark and once again featured pairs of celebrities and “regular” people. Pyramid would continue on in various iterations for decades, with the prize amount continually rising. (When OOTD watched the show it was the $100,000 version.)

Bob Stewart, who was born Isidore Steinberg, changed his name after losing an acting opportunity because of the ethnic (read: Jewish) sound of his name. He was inducted in the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (the folks who give out the Emmy Awards) Hall of Fame in 2010.

Stewart, whose work has entertained millions of children home sick from school, stay-at-home parents, and college students with an afternoon schedule, died at the age of 91.

Additional sources: LA Times and wikipedia.org

(The Price is Right logo is courtesy of tcnj.edu; Password logo is courtesy of wikimedia.org; The $25,000 Pyramid logo is courtesy of www.free-theme-songs.com; To Tell the Truth logo is courtesy of moronicox.com)

Obit of the Day: “Goober”

Goober Pyle had originally hoped to be Gomer Pyle. George Lindsey had auditioned for the part of Gomer that went to Jim Nabors on The Andy Griffith Show. Nabors’ portrayal of the dim-witted Southern gas station attendant was so popular that he was going to be given his own show: Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. So the show’s producer called Mr. Lindsey back and offered him the role of Gomer’s cousin, “Goober.”

After Gomer Pyle left Mayberry, Goober was put in place to run the town’s gas station. Lindsey would portray Goober for seven years, four on Andy Griffith and three on Mayberry R.F.D., the latter was an attempt to keep the show going after Andy Griffith left. When Mayberry R.F.D. was cancelled in 1971, Lindsey would continue to portray Goober on the country variety show Hee Haw.

Lindsey’s voice can also be heard in the Disney productions of Robin Hood (as “Trigger”) and The Rescuers (as “Rabbit”). He would guest star on various television shows over the next several decades. You can find his full filmography here.

George Lindsey actually had a degree in Bioscience from the University of North Alabama (originally Florence State Teachers’ College) and was a science teacher before using the G.I. Bill to attend theater school after World War II. After the end of his acting career, Lindsey was involved in raising money for the Special Olympics and promoting the George Lindsey Film Festival held at his alma mater.

George Lindsey was 83 years old.

Very Random Note: According to Leonard Nimoy, George Lindsey was actually Gene Roddenberry’s choice to play the character of Spock. Source: imdb.com

(Image is courtesy of wikimedia.com)